https://youtu.be/Rn-xFXytgHU

I’m super excited to be checking out the Jabra Elite 85T truly wireless Bluetooth earbuds. I’ve been a huge fan of this Jabra series and owned the 65T and 75T, so I’m expecting big things here.

This is part of a series where I’m looking for the best overall truly wireless earbuds, and by overall I mean the best all-in-one for relaxing, for work, for walking and for working out. I only want one pair of buds to be a partner to my Sony WH-1000XM3 over ear headphones, so what should I choose?

So far I have looked at the Powerbeats Pro, which blew me away with how they performed during workouts but left me underwhelmed with the other features considering their price.

And I’ve also looked at the Jabra Active Elite 75T, which have been my earbud of choice for much of the last 12 months.

So let’s start off with some basics, and I’ll compare to the Active Elite 75T as we go.

So, price, these buds are currently £219 on Amazon. That’s a lot of cash but in the grand scheme of things it's more or less where these buds should be. They sit at the top of the Jabra tree with the Active Elite 75T now around £170 and then straight up Elite 75T at around £150.

Let’s check out the case before we move onto the buds themselves. The case is a little bigger than the 75T version. Surprise surprise, this is because the buds themselves are a little larger this time round – more on that in a sec.

The nice thing here is that the case has wireless charging enabled as standard in addition to USB C. Wireless charging was available with the 75t model but only at additional cost. Despite the slight size increase I really like the case. It’s still very small, the buds snap into place magnetically with a satisfying action. It’s just the right texture to not be insanely slippy. It holds around 20 hours worth of charge for the buds, which hold about 6 hours on their own. So easily a day's worth of listening all things considered.

One thing I should point out here is that there is no Active Elite version of these buds as yet (and since my video review, I've seen that Jabra has said there is unlikely to be an 'Active' version). However the Elite 85T is still IPX4 rated, which is just as high as some sporty buds. Most reviews say the Powerbeats Pro are IPX4, for example. But that’s obviously not as good as the Active Elite 75T and its IP57 rating.

Onto the buds themselves, and straight away you can see these are larger than the 75T version. It’s nothing major, and there’s a good reason for the size increase. Overall these are still some of the smallest and most discreet buds around.

So the size boost… well Jabra has upped the number of microphones from two in each bud to a whopping 6. They have to go somewhere right. These buds also have a much more sophisticated noise cancelling system which is a cut above what was in the 75T – although it’s worth remembering that the 75T only had ANC added after an update, and it was really a bonus that it was added at all. But the 85T are still very light and have more or less the smallest form factor in high end earbuds with ANC.

So how does that active noise cancelling work, and what’s it like? Well first we need to talk about the fit, as there’s a massive change here from what I was used to with the 75T and 65T.

The Jabra Elite 85T features an oval shaped tip so that when you put on the buds with that twisting motion, they form a snug and comfortable seal – but the kicker is that the tips go nowhere near as far into your ear canal as the 75T or 65T. This is very exciting news, as comparing them one after the other, it means that goldfish bowl feeling of being stuck in your own head due to the deep isolating seal is gone. It’s a matter of preference of course, and I have to say that I was fine with the fit of the 75T. But this new fit comes with some huge benefits.

I do have to add that the fit doesn’t feel as secure, but that’s just a feeling and it’s really because I’m used to the 75T fit which is rock solid. The Elite 85Ts never fell out, but because the tips don’t go as deep and the unit is slightly heavier, I did get the sensation that they could pop out – they never did.

OK, so onto ANC. It’s superb in the Elite 85T. Like, just brilliant. I was a little sceptical of Jabras chops when it comes to ANC, as while I appreciated the feature on the Active Elite 75T, the sense of isolation caused by the deep seal of the buds was enough to block out most noise purely on its own.

However, without the deep seal the 85T has its work cut out for it, and I’m pleased to say it passes with flying colours. It’s quite remarkable when it’s on, and not far off Bose and Sony levels of ANC. The ability to switch between ANC, hear through and an ‘off’ mode with one press of the left bud really shows what these buds are capable of.

What about the sound quality? Surprisingly, or maybe not, they sound very similar to the Active Elite 75T. This is no bad thing as I think the 75T sounds great. And it’s actually a complement to Jabra that they have managed to keep the sound profile consistent even though the form factor – and that deep seal – has changed so significantly. I was expecting the bass to be less impactful due to the more open design, but it mostly held up and actually came through clearer without the occlusion sensation.

If you enjoyed the sound profile of the 65T or 75T, you will find much to enjoy here. The mids are a little muddy still, but highs are nice and on point. The Elite 85Ts still seems to prefer electronic music, hip hop and pop – anything with a clean driving bassline – rather than say, big rock numbers with distortion, where things can get a bit claustrophobic. But overall it’s an improvement on the 75T, just not a ground-breaking change. This may be a good or bad thing depending on your taste. If you’re new to Jabra I think you would be satisfied but you’d expect to be given the price.

So onto the big one for me, what are they like to work out with. If you haven’t watched my other videos, I’ll quickly recap by saying that the biggest reason I couldn’t recommend the Elite Active 75T as the best all-round earbuds was that when running you get this awful, distracting, muffled vibration sensation because of the deep seal.

The funny thing is I didn’t notice it for months, or at least my brain had worked out a way to lessen its impact. But when I switched to the Powerbeats Pro, this sensation was not there. So when I tried the Jabra 75T again, it was so apparent to me that they have become practically unusable to me for running now.

With that out the way, you can see why I’m putting a lot of weight into this part of the review. But if the question is are the Jabra Elite 85T any good for running, the answer, thankfully, is hell yes.

Like some other high end earbuds, the Airpod Pros for example, Jabra has figured out a way to equalise the pressure in your ear canal between the earbud tip and your eardrum. I don’t know if there’s a standard way of describing this or if the technology has a name, but Jabra says the 85Ts have ‘pressure relief vents for maximum all-day comfort’.

What I do know is that this is a revelation for running, and even walking, and that thud thud thud of your feet hitting the ground is gone. I’m not talking about the actual sound of hearing your steps, but the vibration that goes up through your body and seems to get stuck in that gap between bud and eardrum.

I guess the combination of the vents and the not so deep seal means the experience is much more in line with that of the Powerbeats Pro, although the fit is completely different of course.

And let's talk about fit when exercising. I mentioned before that the buds didn’t feel secure and when I was running I really did think they would fall out. Without the deep seal these buds have an almost floating like quality as they are still so light that they just don’t feel like they are attached to anything, and definitely not as ‘locked in’ as the 75T or the Powerbeats Pro.

But again, they never fell out and perhaps it’s just up to me to get used to them. I did feel like using the controls was riskier and caused some movement. It’s the same set up as the 75T with a single circular push button on each bud.. Single press right to play or pause. Single press left to switch between ANC, hear through and off. Double taps skip forward on the left or back on the right while long holds handle volume up and down. As with the 75T there’s little travel and the buttons are clicky, it's just that the extra movement did little for my confidence in the fit.

So are the Elite 85Ts better than the Active Elite 75Ts? Yes, undoubtably. The pressure vent magic or whatever is happening meant that any concerns with the fit were washed away. The 85Ts didn’t sound quite as good when moving as they did when staying still, the quality became a little muddy and wind noise often crept in even with ANC selected. I also found running on hearthrough pretty much unbearable. It was OK with more static gym work. But the improvement over the 75T when running or working out in ANC or off mode – where you can still hear some of your surroundings - made them a clear winner.

What about the Powerbeats Pro, are they better? This is extremely tough. If you asked me to pick the best all round package of the two, I’d go with the 85Ts. But if I had the choice and I’m just about to go out and hit a 10k, I’m taking the Powerbeats Pros. I’m almost shocking myself by saying that, but I really would. The experience, ease of use and overall sound quality is just better when you’re exercising.

But to come to some kind of conclusion on the Elite 85Ts, Jabra really couldn’t have hit more of my wish list with this upgrade. I think the Elite 85T is, in my opinion, one of the best one-and-done wireless earbuds available today when you consider the whole package. I think it will be a tight call between these and the Bose earbuds for the top spot, and I’ll be testing Bose’s best soon.

There’s so much choice in the wireless earbud market that I’m not going to leave things here and I’ll be adding more reviews as I test new models. But that’s all for today, see you next time.